Join us for a discussion of the book of Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
"Profoundly important ... intellectual entertainment of the highest order."
--The New York Times
"The study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a study of the art of rationality itself. Working on a motorcycle, working well, caring, is to become part of a process, to achieve an inner peace of mind. The motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon."
-- Robert M. Pirsig
"You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt."
-- Robert M. Pirsig
Read more on Wikipedia.
Condition for attendance: Attendees are expected to have read the book before the meetup.
Meetup type: Moderated discussion
Meetup charge: free, but attendees should order something for themselves from the restaurant. You can order when you arrive or during our meetup.
Dealing with over-capacity: while unlikely to happen, note that the last-arriving members may be asked not to enter the main room and to form their own mini-group at a table somewhere else.
Nature of our discussions/debates:
• Opinions expressed are encouraged to be backed by facts wherever possible;
• Members should gracefully take criticism of their opinion and not take the criticism personally;
• Members should show willingness to provide more facts and explanations in support of their opinion if this is requested by any other participant;
• Organizer acts as a moderator as well as a participant in the discussion.
Group's policy on RSVPs:
• Every member is expected to respect their RSVP for each event and keep it up to date. Two instances of non-respect of the RSVP will lead to the member being removed from the group.
• If a person can no longer attend, they must change their RSVP to No as soon as possible.
• Optional reading: the room we have has a table around which 12 people can sit; 3 more people may sit at corners (max capacity of 15). When the meetup is set up, the capacity is set to 18 initially and the meetup has a Waitlist up to few days before the meetup date which means that the first person on the Waitlist gets in automatically, as soon as a spot opens up. Few days before the meetup date, the capacity is lowered to 15 (but there will be still 18 Yes RSVPs) and Waitlist is removed (a Notify button will appear). During these final days, if the number of people in the Yes RSVP list drops below 15, the people on the "want a spot" list will get an email and whoever RSVP Yes faster will get the spot. The change from automatic to manual RSVP is to remove automatic RSVPing in the last days. The whole purpose of this setup is to allow maximum number of members to attend, while avoiding going over capacity of our room. 12 to 15 people is also near an optimal number for a discussion during which everyone can participate; more people in a larger room will mean some will not have a chance to participate or even hear others speaking. Meetup.com frequently changes how it functions (automatic Waitlist, etc.) and the above setting reflects the latest changes it has made.
